- Joined
- Sep 5, 2007
- Messages
- 58
- Points
- 3,101
- Age
- 118
- Vehicle Year
- 1992
- Transmission
- Automatic
as some of you know I have/had a topheavy exo caged fullwidth explorer..
well..
after putting the sterling and the HD44 under it 2 years ago..it became so heavy that my 460 towrig had problems with it (ok..not problems..but wasnt as fast towin it)...
so I chopped the top..n bikini'd the doors..
that helped alot...wheeled it this way for a year...but wasnt happy...too wide...
so I decided to ditch most of the exo...run the front tubes inside the fenders and just start building the internal cage...
plans
actual to this point (blue tape is where I need another tube and all the way down to the slider..and the tape on the fenders is the cutline..)
then I decided it would be a good time (since I dont have the funding for the diesel buggy I want to build) to modd this some more..
swap out the A4LD and doubler/t-case for a C4/D20 thats twinsticked..do some motorwork..push the motor down and back about a foot each..(move the CG of the truck)
wheres waldo!
cut the front framehorns to suck the bumper in and reduce overhang..
finnished location about 6in further inboard.
skin the bodypanels and do a dirt-track style and hang the skins from the cage to save weight...
cut the floor out so I can doghouse for the motor move and throw expanded grating down for several reasons..
1.makes it easier to clean out (we mudbog with it too)
2.make it even lighter
3.mount the seats to the cage rather than whats left of the body.
4.so I can monitor the driveline and see tire placement thru the holes. (thanks Billavista for the idea from your truck!)
ditch the back bench..throw in 2 spare buckets I've got..and 4point harness all the seats...
oh..and beadlocks..(new tires too..maybe 38's) and then I can ditch the spare tire...(that saves about 80lbs!!)
all in all I am looking to dump about 600lbs over what it was with just the top off..
I've ditched my OBA setup infavor of a powertank (THANKS CHUBBY@ 4wheelparts!!)
just what I've taken off sofar is around 400..gotta lot of floor to cut out..but about half the weight will go back in with the crosstubes for the seats and the grating..
once I get the body gutted into just hanging panels it should be really close to what I want to weigh...
well..
after putting the sterling and the HD44 under it 2 years ago..it became so heavy that my 460 towrig had problems with it (ok..not problems..but wasnt as fast towin it)...
so I chopped the top..n bikini'd the doors..
that helped alot...wheeled it this way for a year...but wasnt happy...too wide...
so I decided to ditch most of the exo...run the front tubes inside the fenders and just start building the internal cage...
plans
actual to this point (blue tape is where I need another tube and all the way down to the slider..and the tape on the fenders is the cutline..)
then I decided it would be a good time (since I dont have the funding for the diesel buggy I want to build) to modd this some more..
swap out the A4LD and doubler/t-case for a C4/D20 thats twinsticked..do some motorwork..push the motor down and back about a foot each..(move the CG of the truck)
wheres waldo!
cut the front framehorns to suck the bumper in and reduce overhang..
finnished location about 6in further inboard.
skin the bodypanels and do a dirt-track style and hang the skins from the cage to save weight...
cut the floor out so I can doghouse for the motor move and throw expanded grating down for several reasons..
1.makes it easier to clean out (we mudbog with it too)
2.make it even lighter
3.mount the seats to the cage rather than whats left of the body.
4.so I can monitor the driveline and see tire placement thru the holes. (thanks Billavista for the idea from your truck!)
ditch the back bench..throw in 2 spare buckets I've got..and 4point harness all the seats...
oh..and beadlocks..(new tires too..maybe 38's) and then I can ditch the spare tire...(that saves about 80lbs!!)
all in all I am looking to dump about 600lbs over what it was with just the top off..
I've ditched my OBA setup infavor of a powertank (THANKS CHUBBY@ 4wheelparts!!)
just what I've taken off sofar is around 400..gotta lot of floor to cut out..but about half the weight will go back in with the crosstubes for the seats and the grating..
once I get the body gutted into just hanging panels it should be really close to what I want to weigh...
